


old time romance

by adabarbacarisi



Series: 5+1 Barisi [3]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: 5+1 Things, Canonical Character Death, Dancing, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Married Barisi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:27:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28472364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adabarbacarisi/pseuds/adabarbacarisi
Summary: Rafael Barba's life as told through a series of important dances.Or, five times Rafael danced with a partner and one time he sat alone.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Series: 5+1 Barisi [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1682143
Comments: 16
Kudos: 40





	old time romance

**Author's Note:**

> I love thinking about Rafael's life, outside of his career and how he was raised. So naturally, when I came up with this idea I was having a lot of feelings about Rafael and his grandmother. Also I just really love the song the title is from (Frank Turner's Four Simple Words, it's fucking excellent live).

_ “I want to dance, I want to dance,  _

_ I want me some lust and love, _

_ and a smattering of that old time romance.” _

* * *

**Fourteen.**

Rafael Barba learned a lot of things from his grandmother when he was growing up - how to respect women, how to watch out for his mother, how to stand up for himself - but the memories he cherishes the most of his abuelita are the times he spent dancing with her. From a young age he would listen to old Spanish records with her whenever he would go over to her apartment, a place he felt was a safe haven from the rest of the world.

As Rafael grew taller she taught him how to have the correct posture and hold for dancing with a partner. “I don’t have someone to dance with, abuelita.” He had said, awkward and unsure of his changing teenage body. There was someone he wanted to dance with, his young queer heart had quickly become attached to one of his friends. He tried not to think about it, what the repercussions of his feelings would be. 

“But you will, mi querido,” she had assured him. “You will find the right partner to dance and romance when you are older. For now, indulge your grandmother with a waltz. And watch your footwork.”

And so they danced, and for the next thirty years Rafael made sure he took the time to dance with his grandmother whenever she asked.

**Forty-Four.**

Rafael did not get the appropriate time to grieve the loss of his grandmother, his favourite person. The criminals and caseloads did not cease to exist at the news of Rafael’s broken heart, though he thought the world ought to stop spinning and stand still in respect. 

It was not until several days after her funeral that he sat down in his comfortable armchair in his home and allowed himself to cry it all out. Alone, where he could relax and let himself be vulnerable, he had poured himself a strong drink and put on a Beny More record that he had inherited from her. Rafael let the memory of slow dancing with her wash over him as his face became wet with tears. He sang softly along with the music, “ _Fue una luz, que iluminó todo mi ser_ ,” and his heart felt impossibly heavy in his chest.

**Forty-Six.**

On their third date, a Saturday night after a long week for the both of them, Rafael surprised Sonny after dinner by taking him to a Latin club for drinks and dancing. Sonny’s face lit up with joy at seeing a new side to Rafael, tipsy on delicious cocktails and heating up with the sound of the music filling the space. When Rafael took his hand and pulled him onto the crowded dance floor, Sonny went easily - he was quickly discovering he would probably say yes to a lot of things if it was Rafael asking him - laughing at the spontaneity of the situation. 

Rafael pulled Sonny in close, hands warm and possessive on his hips. Sonny pressed against him and bent his head so he could speak into Rafael’s ear above the music, “Gonna show me your moves, Rafael?” 

“Oh, I’ve got moves,” Rafael teased back, lips close to Sonny's neck. He really wanted to kiss that neck and mark up the tempting pale skin with his teeth. “Do try and keep up, Carisi.”

Sonny rolled his eyes at the use of his surname, aware that Rafael was just playing with him. They had been metaphorically dancing around each other for more than a year, and now they were all over each other on a busy dance floor in the middle of Manhattan.

**Forty-Eight.**

They got married on a sunny weekend in August, enough time for them to have a small honeymoon before Sonny made his move to the District Attorney's office. A simple ceremony at the courthouse with their loved ones in attendance, followed by a hotel reception filled with the extended Carisi family and colleagues. The bar was well used, the music upbeat, and the attendees joyful for the happy couple. 

Sonny had been nervous. Not the wedding or the idea of marriage, no he had been very much looking forward to the day he could call Rafael Barba his husband, but of the first dance. Rafael was a pretty good dancer and Sonny thought himself rather uncoordinated sometimes. The pressure of knowing everyone would be watching, and probably filming, had worried him.

So he secretly paid for a course of ballroom dance lessons, and fit the lessons into his schedule whenever he had been able to find the time.

When Rafael and Sonny walked onto the dancefloor for their first dance as a married couple, their chosen song playing and their guests cheering them on, they only had eyes for each other. Sonny thought how silly it had been for him to be nervous about it, for all that really mattered was the man in his arms.

They danced, and Rafael had grinned as Sonny showed off what he had been practicing. Sonny even dipped him at the end, to the crowd's delight. A first dance completed with a kiss, and their married life began.

**Fifty.**

Rafael woke up on the morning of his fiftieth birthday alone. Confused, he stretched out across the bed to find his husband’s side still warm and more sunlight than he was used to shining through the window. When he picked up his phone he saw that it was nearly ten o’clock, he realised that Sonny must have turned off his alarm and let him sleep in longer.

After doing his normal bathroom routine and putting on his robe, Rafael made his way into the kitchen where he found Sonny preparing breakfast. The radio was on, the room smelled like freshly brewed coffee, and his husband looked as handsome as ever.

“Something smells delicious.”

“Oh! I was going to bring you breakfast in bed.”

Rafael greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. “No worries, sweetheart.”

Sonny smiled and kissed him back. “Happy birthday, baby.”

The song on the radio changed and they both recognised it immediately, eyes widening. Their song, their wedding song. Rafael took a hold of his husband and twirled him into the middle of the kitchen. Sonny laughed and moved with him easily, the pair of them falling into a familiar dance. Rafael had thought there was no better way to spend his birthday.

**Eighty-Eight.**

Forty years of marriage. Forty years of sharing their lives together, the highs and the lows, the joy and the sadness. Now here they are, older but not that much wiser, and still in love. Not the same way they loved each other when they were in their first years together of course, now their love is comfortable and worn like a favourite item of clothing.

On their anniversary, Sonny’s niece hosts them and the rest of the family at her home for a garden party. It is a lovely day, generations of Carisi’s wishing them well and great nieces and nephews playing in the late summer sun. Rafael and Sonny relax in the shade and watch everyone enjoy themselves, content on a life well lived and looking forward to more.

After dinner is served, someone has the idea to move furniture to make room on the patio to dance. Rafael smiles as the music is turned up and Sonny offers his hand.

“Wanna find out if you’ve still got the moves?”

“Let’s show these young folk how it’s done.”

*******

A younger Rafael had hoped that he would find the right dance partner like his abuelita had assured him he would. Someone to share music and waltzes with, someone to hold close and love for the rest of his life. The universe may have taken a while in bringing them together, but he found that someone in Sonny.

**Author's Note:**

> Starting the new year off with some fluff, I think we deserve it.


End file.
